The haven of safaris is in danger from global warning. The coastal zones are most likely to be affected by climate change with reduced fish productivity, coral bleaching, salt water intrusion, loss of beach facilities and tourism revenues. This is as per a new report on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation in Africa , released by the data from UN bodies and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Rainfall has fallen by up to 2.4% per decade in tropical rainforests regions of Africa since the mid-1970s.The rate of decline has been fastest in West Africa and north Congo. Sea levels could rise by 15 to 95 cm by 2100, according to some estimates.
It is also estimated that 30% of Africa’s coastal infrastructure could be inundated including coastal settlements in the Gulf of Guinea, Senegal, the Gambia and Egypt if Africa does not improve in climate and weather monitoring capabilities and policies. It needs 200 automatic weather stations, a genuine effort to rescue historical data and improved weather reporting capability. By 2085, between 25 per cent and over 40 per cent of species’ habitats could be lost altogether. Experts estimate that cereal crop yields will decline by up to five per cent by the 2080s.
Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said:
Climate change is underway and the international community must respond by offering well targeted assistance to those countries in the front-line which are facing increasing impacts such as extreme droughts and floods and threats to infrastructure from phenomena like rising sea levels.
All these alarming estimates are of no use if they remain as such. The need of the hour is to create concrete realities, firstly to establish better weather stations and make arrangements for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut.
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